designlarpelements of
Eirik Fatland - Knutpunkt 2014
Why U No Larpdesign?
A Knutebook Larp Design Reader*• “Building Dramatics” by Susanne Gräslund
• Everything by Eirik Fatland
• Everything by Troels Barkholt-Sprangsbo
• Selected Works by J. Tuomas Harviainen
• All the larp reports
• ...
• Everything Else* based on a flawed memory of a napkin I might have dreamt about
1. What do larp designers design?
2. What must be designed?
3. What can be designed?
Why U So Teohrehticl?
1. What do larp designers design?
The object, and limit, of larp design:
What do players want?“Create a story, with others.”“Overcome my own limits.”“Enough plots”“Learn about myself”
“This character was unplayable”“My larp sucked because of bad design.”
What do players want?“Create a story, with others.”“Overcome my own limits.”“Enough plots”“Learn about myself”
“This character was unplayable”“My larp sucked because of bad design.”
“I did X because it was totally true to my character”
Image: Puppeli @ DeviantArt, CC-BY-SA 3.0 2014
Image: Puppeli @ DeviantArt, CC-BY-SA 3.0 2014
fight flee
Image: Puppeli @ DeviantArt, CC-BY-SA 3.0 2014
fight
flee
Image: Puppeli @ DeviantArt, CC-BY-SA 3.0 2014
hugtoast
boastgrunt
fightflee
affordances:Perceivable possibilities for action
Source: James J. Gibson / Don Norman
(1) An actor’s part in a play, film, etc.:
ROLE
Source: Oxford English Dictionary
(1) An actor’s part in a play, film, etc.
(2) The function assumed or part played by a person or thing in a particular situation.
ROLE
Source: Oxford English Dictionary
(1) An actor’s part in a play, film, etc.
(2) The function assumed or part played by a person or thing in a particular situation.
ROLE
(3) The affordances that are socially available to a given person in a given context.
Source: Oxford English Dictionary + my own ass
source: Johanna Koljonens brain
2. What must be designed?
ALIBI TO PLAY
Photo: CC-AT-NC-ND 2014 DeviantArt user RainSmile
LANGUAGE TO INTERACT
3. What can be designed?
rail-roading: bad
manipulation: good
So, how do you manipulate players into improvising the experience you want them to have?
Instructions / scheduling: You tell them what to do
Theme: You tell them what it is about, and then let them figure out how to do it
Interaction Code: You give players a reference (genre, situation etc.) for how to behave
External Conflict: You pit them against each other
Internal Conflict: You make it interesting to figure out what to do
Challenge: You tell them to want X, and then make it difficult to get X.
Controlling the external world: You use your GM power over the rest of the universe to nudge the players into behaving.
So, how do you manipulate players into improvising the experience you want them to have?(cont’d)
Framing: You slice up the time and space of the larp.
Mechanics / Techniques: You tell them to, in certain situations, do stuff that affects the player and character differently.
Hierarchy: You give some characters plenty of power over others, and set up some rules that make the interaction of power and non-power interesting
Status: You make characters high-status/low-status (dominant/submissive) and then complicate it.
Fictional values: You ask them to pretend to have values and beliefs that lead to certain behaviours. This may in turn create themes and conflicts.
Rituals: You tell them that their characters, in certain situations, behave in certain ways.
Puzzles: You hide clues around the game, ask players to compete in finding them, and make something awesome happen when they do.
CASE
MELLAN HIMMEL OCH HAV
CASE
KYBERGENESIS
CASE
KAPO
Marcellos Kjeller 2010 foto: Li Xin
Compound& Holistic
designlarpelements of
Eirik Fatland - Knutpunkt 2014
larpwright.efatland.com
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